1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is an accessory for toy cars and more particularly a storage container and starting gate apparatus for spring-powered toy vehicles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently the toy industry has provided a large number of miniature toy vehicles for the play action enjoyment of children. One form of particularly pleasing toy vehicles has been sold under the trademark Penny Racers and comprises a series of different toy vehicle designs of approximately 1 inch in width by 11/2 inches in length that are driven by a miniature spring-wound prime mover.
The prior art has proposed various structures for launching self-propelled toy vehicles, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,621,607, U.S. Pat. No. 3,701,216 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,682.
The prior art has additionally disclosed various forms of toys that can be reconfigured into a storage container wherein the walls of the storage container are capable of being folded out to provide various forms of play action, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,090,321. All of the above toys represented in these patents may have provided enjoyment to a child but the imagination and short attention span of a child continually requires new and novel toys to maintain their interest. Accordingly, the toy industry is still looking for novel forms of toys to serve this purpose.